Chaudhry Nisar calls for separation of immigration department from FIA

The Minister for Interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Wednesday called for separating the immigration department from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), saying immigration and border management are "independent and specialised subjects" all over the world and that it needs to be separated, a press release issued by the ministry stated.

While chairing a high-level meeting in Islamabad, Nisar directed the Secretary for Interior Arif Ahmed Khan to "prepare a comprehensive strategy paper" within a week, laying down the plan on how the immigration department could be separated from FIA, an organisation "primarily tasked with investigation of white-collar crimes".

The interior minister further said, "[A] modernised immigration and border management department would streamline the process of effective monitoring of Pakistan's entry and exit points through air, sea and land routes".

Regarding National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) reportedly charging exorbitant fee for its services to overseas Pakistanis, Nisar directed the organisation's chairman, Usman Mobin, to clarify NADRA's "position on all forums, especially in the suo moto case pending before the Supreme Court of Pakistan."

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The interior minister also directed Mobin to submit "concrete proposals" within 24 hours to resolve the issue surrounding the Pakistan Origin Card (POC).

The court had issued an order to Nadra to submit a report in connection with a suo motu notice taken by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar that the fee charged for the issuance of the National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis (Nicop) and the cancellation of the Pakistan Origin Card (POC) was exorbitant.

The NADRA chairman, while briefing Nisar, denied reports of increase in the organisation's service charges since 2012.

Instead, Mobin said that "under the present government, with the validity period of each card significantly enhanced, the total cost of the card has in fact reduced".